Non-Employment Ads: Associate Vice President of University Relations or his/her designee

Advertising is defined in MAPP 04.01.03 Section III Item A:
Any written or verbal message submitted for publication in newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, promotional items, Web sites, or any other written or recorded media with the intended purpose of persuading, informing or increasing brand awareness with a targeted audience.

The Vice President of University Marketing, Communicaton & Media Relations has designated members of the brand review team to review and approve all communications about UH per the MAPP above. We have created a streamlined process that allows for a 48 hour response time.

Process

The UH brand review team consists of rotating staff members who meet in pairs each day to review all submitted PDFs. They are trained on the same guidelines and meet regularly together as a team. To ensure a quick response to questions, email the entire team at branding@uh.edu.

Be prepared. Get internal approval from your end on the final version submitted to brand review.

Be timely. Email a PDF to branding@uh.edu at least 48 hours (business days) before it’s due to your printer, publisher, or other third-party vendor.

Be patient. The first communication will come within 24 hours of your submission in the form of an approval or feedback for revisions.

Please Note: Approvals will be vaild for six months and resubmission, review and approval will be required again after that time.

In addition to the style guideline and logo usage, the brand review team will also look for:

Design flaws (i.e. blurry images, disproportion, etc.)

Solicitation of funds. All communications that infer monetary exchange must be assigned an Appeal Code through the Office of Annual Giving. This includes events with a ticket price. The brand review team confirms there is a code.

President's image. The UH brand review team facilitiates these approvals through her office, which increases the length of approval time.

ATF Clause

The University of Houston name, logos, marks and other branding elements cannot be used in the promotion of tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, or firearms/firecrackers.

Exceptions

Exceptions to the UH branding and style guidelines must be approved by University Marketing and are available only to non-academic, public-facing entities. Exceptions are not available to a college, a degree program, an official business department, or any other established unit of the University of Houston or University of Houston System. Outside funds can come from other public organizations, private organizations, private individuals, or from services rendered.

Specifically, entities eligible for exceptions must be one of the following:

Funded 51% or more by entities outside of the University of Houston or University of Houston System

Registered as 501c3/Non-profits

Public-facing units with a transactional relationship to the community that have a non-academic operational structure

Not a college, degree program, official business department, or any other established unit of the University of Houston or University of Houston System

Being an exception entity does not mean the UH branding and graphic standards are eliminated entirely. It means:

UH graphic standards may be adjusted slightly to allow for the inclusion of the other funding source's branding and logos.

An official University of Houston logo must appear on the piece.

Any advertising pieces produced for, by or about the entity are subject to UH brand review guidelines

Any logos used on behalf of the exempt entity must be approved by the Vice President of University Marketing, Communicaton & Media Relations or his/her designee (see brand review process)

It is preferred that UH approved fonts, colors and branding be used as much as possible in promotional materials.

Any UH logos, fonts and branding used will be subject to UH graphic standards.

Any student organization or event should refer to this chart for informtion on the brand review process.